OUR CULTURES, OUR MEALS:
Cooking for Planetary Health
Our Cultures, Our Meals: Cooking for Planetary Health brings the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission Report—and its recommended Planetary Health Diet—to life through food and culture. A collaboration between EAT, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health—Department of Nutrition, and the Culinary Institute of America, this photodocumentary project showcases plant-forward traditions from Greece and Vietnam. These vibrant, culturally rooted meals demonstrate how evidence-based dietary guidance translates into joyful, delicious, and accessible eating experiences—supporting both personal well-being and a sustainable planet.
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The Plant-Forward Kitchen: Southeast Asia
In The Plant-Forward Kitchen: Southeast Asia, we explore the bold, aromatic cuisines of Vietnam and Thailand — where plant-forward traditions are deeply rooted in everyday meals. Southeast Asian cuisine has long embraced plant-forward principles, drawing from its Buddhist roots that promote compassion for all living beings and encourage followers to adopt an occasional or ongoing vegetarian diet.
Exploring the Cuisine of Oaxaca
Discover the vibrant flavors of Oaxaca, Mexico—from rich moles and tlayudas to modern fine dining and street foods. Explore the region’s unique ingredients, traditional techniques, and modern culinary twists that make Oaxacan cuisine so unique.
Oaxacan cuisine is celebrated for its remarkable diversity, shaped by the traditions of its many Indigenous communities and the region’s abundant natural landscape. Known as the “land of seven moles,” Oaxaca is famous for its richly layered sauces that embody generations of culinary artistry. Corn lies at the heart of its food culture, found in everything from tortillas and tamales to tlayudas and traditional drinks like tejate. From bustling street markets to Michelin-starred restaurants, Oaxaca offers a vibrant and dynamic culinary experience that reflects both deep heritage and modern creativity.
CIA-BCH Leadership in Sustainable Gastronomy Initiatives
The Culinary Institute of America has developed a joint project with the Barcelona Culinary Hub focused on leadership in sustainable gastronomy. This pioneering program, Leadership in Sustainable Gastronomy Initiatives, aims to address some of the most pressing challenges in sustainable food practices and help to cultivate a new generation of leaders in this vital field.
The CIA-FoodService Director Plant-Forward Healthcare Operations to Watch
These hospitals and senior-living communities demonstrate a commitment to plant-forward cuisine, local sourcing, sustainability and more.
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The CIA-FSR Plant-Forward Full Service Watchlist
The plant-forward movement is showing up in kitchens across the country. Here are the concepts taking veggie-rich dining to the next level.
About Plant-Forward Kitchen
The Plant-Forward Kitchen, a new education and digital media initiative from The Culinary Institute of America, presents next-generation strategies to re-imagine menus and flavor development in the professional kitchen. It builds on the vision and evidence base of Menus of Change, a joint initiative of the CIA and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health—Department of Nutrition. We invite you to join us in this learning community.
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Olive Oil and the Plant-Forward Kitchen: Flavor Strategies
At the heart of Mediterranean food cultures is olive oil. In this white paper, “Olive Oil and the Plant-Forward Kitchen,” we explore what makes the plant parts of the plant-forward Mediterranean kitchen so delicious.
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What’s in a Name?
To our chefs and foodservice operators: To help communicate with your staff teams, industry colleagues, the media, and customers about distinctions between menu strategies that leverage vegetables and fruits, nuts and legumes, whole grains, and plant-based proteins in leading roles, we’re suggesting some naming protocols.
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Tomorrow Tastes Mediterranean Digital Magazine
The Tomorrow Tastes Mediterranean: Digital Magazine provides research as well as business and culinary strategies to create healthier, more sustainable, flavorful plant-forward menus, in more than 60 pages. Tomorrow Tastes Mediterranean: Digital Magazine is a publication of the Torribera Mediterranean Center, a joint project of The Culinary Institute of America and the University of Barcelona.
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